Men's Basketball Falls to 20th Ranked Williams College
Williamstown, MA - The 20th ranked Williams College men's basketball team stretched its season-opening win streak to seven tonight against Framingham State with an 88-50 win in non-conference action. With the win, the Ephs improve to 7-0 on the season, while the Rams drop to 3-6 with the loss.
The Rams were led by senior Josue Almodovar (Holyoke, Mass.) who scored a team-high 12 points to go along with eight boards. With his 12 points, Almodovar know has 1,377 career points and continues to climb the FSC All-Time scoring list. Almodovar now sits 4th all-time having surpassed Tony Lake, who scored 1,373 from 1976-79.
Junior guard Royce Veal (Dorchester, Mass.), who was making his first start of the season, chipped in 10 points, while senior Bill Carey (Abington, Mass.) added seven off the bench.
The Ephs took control of the game from the beginning behind hot-shooting and excellent defense, jumping out to a 15-0 lead less than five minutes into the first half. The Rams tried to slow the game down on the offensive end, walking up the ball and not running plays until late in the shot clock.
With 5:21 left in the half, the Ephs' led 38-8. The Rams then started to find the basket, scoring 15 points in the half's final minutes, but Williams led 49-23 going into the half.
The Ephs held the Rams to 30% shooting in the first half while snagging 22 rebounds to the Rams' 12. Meanwhile, the Ephs shot 64% from the floor. Blake Schultz led the way for the Ephs with 13 first-half points, and Troy Whittington added 10.
The second 20 minutes began in ugly fashion, with both teams struggling to score; the teams had only scored 12 points combined in the first five minutes of the half. Nevertheless, the Ephs continued to extend their lead, ahead 66-33 with 9:13 to go.
Schultz, who had left the game with 12 minutes to go, finished with 18 points and five rebounds on the game, and Whittington finished with 15 and four. James Wang chipped in 10 points and four assists.
The Ephs held the Rams to 30 percent shooting on the night, and no Framingham player scored more than 12. The Ephs also out-rebounded the Rams 47-29; Joe Geoghegan snagged a game-high 10 for the Ephs.
The Rams return to action on Tuesday January 5th as they host Castleton State at 7 p.m.